Sorry to ask a question that is probably "gammal som gatan" as we say in Sweden but I'm a newbie so here goes anyway ...

I'm playing around with making images of my HDD in Ghost 8.2 which I can start from the NSR 11 CD. There's something in there called "Image all" which is the default, "Image boot" which is not and "Image disk" which seems to include both "Image all" and "Image boot" and some other stuff besides.

I chose "Image all" to start with, then I made another image with "Image disk" but I couldn't browse that image in the image browser as I could with the image made using "Image all".

Anyway, I must admit to finding these names confusing. I also can't find any good documention about them (although I did look through your great guide and did a quick Google but nothing came up).

So, if I simply want to be able to quickly restore my HDD from an image file on my USB disk in case of a system crash, reboot and have my system come up as though nothing had happened, which one of these three is to be recommended?

The *default* setting should be *Default*--which means Ghost images only the data, leaves out many *temporary* files such as the *swap file* and *temporary Internet* files to reduce the size and time to create the image!

(Edit by NightOwl at approx 8:40 pm, 11/21/2006:

Actually, *temporary Internet files* are not one of the file sets left off the *default Ghost image*--here's the listing from the Ghost 2003 User Guide, pages 69 and 70: )

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Hibernation and swap files

When Norton Ghost creates image files or clones, it does not include hibernationand swap files. These files are valid only for one Windows session, and when theyare included in an image file, they make it significantly larger.

Thanks for replying, guys. You're right NightOwl, I should have read things more carefully!

Anyway, if I just want to quickly restore my system in case it crashes, is "Default" good enough?

Can I just wipe my crashed disk, boot from the NSR CD, start Ghost 8.2, restore the image taken with the "Default" method, reboot and hope everything comes up as though nothing had ever gone wrong?

When I did "Image Disk" Ghost complained that the target disk didn't have enough space so the image got compressed. I didn't mind that. My source disk is 60 GB, only 9.83 GB is used (it's a new machine from my employer and I wanted to image the disk before messing with the setup) and the image file turned out to be a tidy 5 GB or so (I spanned it across three files).

Hope you didn't take that wrong!--not trying to be *critical*--just trying to point out an observation!

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When I did "Image Disk" Ghost complained that the target disk didn't have enough space so the image got compressed. I didn't mind that. My source disk is 60 GB, only 9.83 GB is used (it's a new machine from my employer and I wanted to image the disk before messing with the setup) and the image file turned out to be a tidy 5 GB or so (I spanned it across three files).

Interesting! How much room (GB's) was available on your *destination* drive?

When you used the *Image Disk* option--you would need the size of your source available--so that 60 GB's of the source HDD--because *Image Disk* includes the non-data empty free space as well as the active data from the source! But, when you used *compression*, Ghost apparently *compressed* all that empty free space into a very compact final image file size! The information to recreate all that empty free space during a restore onto the HDD, I assume, is in that image file! You may also have the *swap file* and the *hibernate* file included in the image file--the *Image Disk* may have over-ridden skipping those files--just makes the image file larger and the time longer to create it!

So, you had two competing commands that negated each other for the most part--it probably forced Ghost to work harder and take longer to create the image file by having to *compress* all that free space--but, I suspect compressing free space is pretty fast! The bottom line is that you essentially ended up where you would have been had you used *Default* as the image creation option!

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Can I just wipe my crashed disk, boot from the NSR CD, start Ghost 8.2, restore the image taken with the "Default" method, reboot and hope everything comes up as though nothing had ever gone wrong?

That the *theory* --never know for sure until you try it for *real*--I purchased an extra HDD and tested it just to make sure I had everything *right*! Worked like a charm the first time--and every time since--and it's been more than once! Oh, the peace of mind!

Hope you didn't take that wrong!--not trying to be *critical*--just trying to point out an observation!

Don't worry, I didn't take it wrong, so no harm done there!

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Interesting! How much room (GB's) was available on your *destination* drive?

My destination drive is a relatively small 30 GB USB HDD.

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So, you had two competing commands that negated each other for the most part

What do you mean? I just did plain old "Image Disk". Does Ghost do two things when I only tell him to do one?!

I'll think I'll just go for "default" like your good self from now on!

BTW I'd like to no what is meant by taking an image of the boot track. But if it's in a manual somewhere (just cos I can't find it don't mean it ain't there) so if you know where it is please point me in the right direction and tell me to RTFM!!!

What do you mean? I just did plain old "Image Disk". Does Ghost do two things when I only tell him to do one?!

*Image Disk* means the *sector-by-sector* backup, including empty space--that was one *command* telling Ghost what to do--then when you got the warning that the image could not fit on that 30 GB HDD--then you selected *Fast?* compression--that was a second command--the two essentially cancel each other out so the final image was about the size that the *Default* image size will probably be!

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BTW I'd like to no what is meant by taking an image of the boot track.

The *boot track* is the first 63 sectors of the HDD--absolute sectors 0 thru 62. The *Master Boot Record* and the *Partition Table* are located in the first sector--absolute 0. A *Default* Ghost image will only save that first sector as that is all that's needed for most instance of restoring a HDD. Using the *ib* (image boot) forces Ghost to back up all the sectors in the boot track, not just that first one--if you have special program code that is stored in the boot track between sector 1 thru 62--then that switch becomes necessary--most folks do not have to worry about that--some do!